Image via Complex Original
These days, it seems like the more bizarre, shiny, or big your art is, the more people make a fuss about it. It takes a lot to shock the seasoned gallery goer, but these artists have gone out of their way to push buttons.
This is most apparent in the instruments artists use to create their work. In reinventing the act of art-making, these artists have used some of the most bizarre yet commonplace objects to render jaw-dropping works. Ranging from eyeballs to human ashes, these artists have gone beyond the simple paintbrush in favor of these abnormal tools. Get familiar with The Most Unusual Tools Artists Have Ever Used.
Ecstacy
It's true that art can get pretty trippy, but Scott Blake takes the concept to a whole new level in his portrait made entirely of ecstasy. Blake creates a semi-pixelated image using the pressed tablets, which looks more like a low resolution photo than a collection of pills.
Fishhooks
Yoan Capote uses fishhooks to create seascapes that will fool the eye into thinking one is on the bow of an imaginary sailboat. Capote's scintillating arrangement of these hooks elicits feelings of both seaside tranquility and fear of the danger these hooks can entail.
Dust
Put down the Swiffer and pick up the...dust you gathered?! Allison Cortson has rethought the possible uses for the dust and dander found around the house. Instead of cleaning it up, she creates highly detailed scenes of everyday life.
Driftwood
For the untrained eye, it would be easy to overlook scattered driftwood laying against the shore, but not for sculptor Heather Jansch. In each forgotten piece of wood, she sees a majestic figure. Using the recycled materials, Jansch gives these neglected pieces of wood a new life.
Penis
Tim Patch, better known as Pricasso, has made a name for himself through his quite involved method of painting with his genitalia. Adorned in a top hat and bowtie, the Australian painter uses his penis under to paint portraits of George Bush, Hugh Hefner, and everyone in between.
Cocaine
Constellations are stimulating to look at, regardless, but one that's actually an art piece made of cocaine?! Artist Matthew Brandt trades in oil on canvas in favor of cocaine on velvet in order to create these enchanting nightscapes.
Coat Hangers
Your mom couldn't handle a second in a David Mach exhibition. Instead of clay or marble, Mach prefers the ubiquitous medium of wire coat hangers to create massive, life-like sculptures. With works spanning from silver bodies to space cadets, there are no limits to what Mach and the wire hanger can accomplish.
Artist's Own Frozen Blood
Marc Quinn's series of sculptures of his aging appearance are not that unusual until one realizes that he froze his own blood to make them. With a new sculpture every five years, Quinn sees his works as a celebration of the capabilities of the human body. Although a bit unnerving, these sculptures sell for about $500,000.
Eyeballs
Instead of using his hands to produce works of art, Xiang Chen prefers a more "optical" approach. With unusually desensitized eyes, Xiang is able to work with paintbrushes by inserting them into his eyelid. He then creates masterpieces of calligraphy.
Etch-a-Sketch
The Etch-a-Sketch was a part of almost every '90s kid's toy box, but admit it—the most you ever made was an elaborate configuration of squares, at best. Artist George Vlosich puts all of our angular sketches to shame with his highly detailed renderings of icons ranging from The Beatles to Muhammad Ali. With just two little knobs, he is able to render breathtaking portraits; just be careful not to shake them. Oh yeah, his works are so good, that Oprah's taken note.
Human Ashes
While some loved ones may request their ashes to be scattered across a body of water (or maybe to stay put in an urn), artist Val Thompson provides a new option. By incorporating ashes into painting, Val Thompson preserves the memory of lost loved ones in a tropical-like landscape.
Meat
Vegetarians beware. Instead of searing his filet mignon, Dimitri Tsykalov molds it into the form of a firearm. In his extremely provocative works, Tsykalov confronts the transient nature of life, as well as man's inhumanity towards all living beings. Taken at face value, these works may seem to be mere meat sculptures, but beneath the marbling lies a profound message.
Gum
Maurizio Savini uses the chewy medium of gum to do more than just blow bubbles; he sculpts provocative and lifelike works of art. Using tiny pieces of chewing gum, Savini creates giant, life-size sculptures ranging from falling businessmen to a pair of pink pumps.
Excrement
Zhu Cheng rethinks one of the most archetypal ideals of beauty and recreates her own form using excrement. Thankfully sealed within a glass structure, the sculpture's familiar form takes on a new meaning when her marble structure is replaced with poop.
Dead Ants
Artist Chris Trueman's work treads the thin line between animal cruelty and artistic freedom. In his recreation of a childhood picture he uses hundreds of thousands of dead ants in order to recreate the adolescent scene. Although they are a bit creepy, the work is meant to place emphasis on how little or how much we value intelligent life in even the smallest of critters.
Bread
Kittiwat Unarrom brings gruesome nightmares to life in the form of bread. Unarrom's hyper-realistic sculptures have a macabre appeal and are probably quite delectable. After getting familiar with this baker's son's work, you will never be able to look at a baguette the same.
Computer Parts
Choi Jung Hyun recycles old computer parts, which results in sculptures that speak to the technology of the past. Repurposing old keyboards and computer mice, Choi creates witty works with outdated technology that might otherwise go to waste.
Human Tongue
Ani K has done away with his paintbrush and palette knife in favor of a more "tasteful" tool...HIS TONGUE. He uses this unconventional method to generate jaw-dropping (no pun intended) works, but the process is not with side effects. Ani K has experienced vision loss, headaches, and nausea, as a result of using his tongue to make these art pieces. He is truly committed to his peculiar painting technique.
Push Pins
Composed of red, blue, yellow, black, and white pushpins, Eric Daigh's meticulous portraits continually confound viewers. What appears as a simple portrait is actually an army of office supplies. In a sort of pointillism for the 21st century, Daigh's colorful push pin portraits meld in the viewer's eye. Seurat would be pleased.
Vomit
Artist Millie Brown uses her bodily fluids in a (literally) stomach-churning way. After regurgitating colored milk, the artist splashes her canvas with the vibrant vomit. Using her throw-up as a paint substitute, she creates colorful and wonderfully nauseating works. She was also the artist who puked on Lady Gaga as performance art at SXSW.